4 Quick & Beautiful Gift Wrapping Ideas

I love giving gifts. LOVE. But for all my years of subscribing to magazines with dedicated articles on beautiful wrapping ideas and oogling photos of intricately wrapped gifts on Pinterest, I’ve just never been great at wrapping them myself. My wrapping typically ends up being a rush job with a quick bow or bag, or yards of tape and ribbon attempting to cover-up jagged wrapping paper edges.

So when I say these ideas are quick and easy, I mean quick and easy. And beautiful, to boot! Because who has time to wrapgifts when it’s so much more fun to actually givethem? Here’s 4 easy wrapping ideas that give you lots of bang for your buck.

1. Put a {photo} sticker on it.

First up are these photo stickers from Pear Tree Greetings. They cost only $3.99 for 12, and are absolutely perfect for young kids who can’t read yet (or, any kids, because how fun is it to see your face on a sticker?!) Simply slap the personalized sticker on wrapped or unwrapped gifts from Santa, and they’ll know exactly for whom they are intended.

That Santa guy sure knows how to make a kid smile.

Oh, and this Tinkerbell and Cars wrapping paper was from the Dollar Store. For, um, $1. I snapped up tons (they had Disney Princesses and Toy Story, too.)

2. Dish it out.

Next, dishtowels. You may remember seeing this idea last year with the homemade cocoa kits. Those towels came from the Dollar Store, but this year I upgraded to a set from HomeGoods because I’m wrapping part of a class gift for my son’s preschool teachers. It worked best to unwrap 1/3 of the towel, then roll up the cocoa cans like this:

Speaking of holiday notelettes, I ordered two different styles– but both in patterns that can be used after the holidays in case I have some left over. Which it appears I won’t, because I’m having too much fun playing with them.

3. Use what your mama gave you.

Okay, maybe your mama didn’t give you ribbon. But mine did, plus buttons, plus paper, plus… well, she’s an artist. She’s allowed. 😉 But one way to save some moolah is to use what you have on hand. Sometimes that means using non-traditional yet lovely colors, like pink and aqua. Ribbon + personalized sticker = instant gift wrap!

This soap set (from HomeGoods too, of course) was too pretty to stick in a bag. So, I did the ribbon/sticker trick and now it’s ready to give to my neighbor.

4. Baker’s dozen.

Sometimes finding unique wrapping paper means only going as far as your kitchen. Freezer, parchment, and wax paper are simple and cheap since you may already have them on hand. Since these types of papers are meant to be non-stick, I knew I needed to wrap paper around it for the sticker to adhere. Placing my cookies in the middle, first I created fold lines on all four sides. Then I folded two sides, then the two others, to make a packet.

Use a plain brown paper bag you’ve cut into a strip (more free stuff, yay!) as your wrapper. I adhered it with a piece of tape, wrapped aqua baker’s twine around a few times to make it look all fancy-like, then slapped a sticker on it. Everything but the sticker came from the kitchen. Which is good, since that’s where I already happened to be snarfing down baking the cookies.

With a little ingenuity and by using what you have on hand, you can wrap gifts beautifully in just minutes. Plus, all those free supplies mean I don’t feel any guilt spending a little on extras like personalized stickers that I know my kids and gift recipients will adore.

So, what’s your quick gift wrap idea? And I asked this on my Facebook page because we’re still figuring this out– how does Santa leave gifts at your house? Wrapped or unwrapped? Does he use special paper, or set everything up for you? Please share!

This post is sponsored by Pear Tree Greetings. Pear Tree Greetings has helped tens of thousands of customers celebrate life’s shareable moments with a collection of uniquely personal, high-quality greetings and stationery. Pear Tree Greetings offers a full line of Christmas cards, holiday photo cards, announcements, address labels, save-the-dates and dozens of other high-quality paper products, so you can seize every opportunity to connect with others. Custom greetings made simple, affordable, and absolutely keep-worthy.

Meet Carrie Higgins

Dreamer, thinker, + lemon squeezer; you'll usually find me clutching a mug of coffee, glue gun, fandeck of paint colors, and a child at any given time. This mom of two (and wife to one) loves to share freshly squeezed ideas for home and family. Join the adventure as we learn most lemons can indeed become lemonade-- with generous amounts of sweetness, perspective, and love.

Comments

Santa delivers presents in his own special paper. We know it’s from him because it has his face on it! His elves sometimes assemble things to make it easier for our little guy to play with it right away.

Hey there, welcome! I'm Carrie-- a dreamer, overthinker, + lemon squeezer, making it my mission to share fresh ideas for home and family. You'll usually find me clutching a mug of coffee, glue gun, fandeck of paint colors, and a child at any given time. Join the adventure as we learn most lemons can indeed become lemonade-- with generous amounts of sweetness, perspective, and love.